Li Yan didn't stay on the ground for long, and immediately climbed on another war horse next to him. He couldn't let his men see him, and he panicked.

"Stop moving! Base bunkers! Li Yan immediately ordered.

He regretted it a little, regretted his underestimation. He knew that the artillery of the Qing army had a range of more than two miles, but he thought that the gunners of the Qing army could not make this artillery work. He looked at his subordinates who fell to the ground at this time and the wounded who were screaming and wailing, and his heart was full of guilt and anger.

The soldiers unloaded some of the sandbags that had been prepared long ago from the baggage trucks behind and went to set up bunkers at the positions that had been shelled. The other baggage soldiers used pickaxes and shovels to fill the sacks collected by the troops with freshly dug earth, and then let the soldiers carry them to the front to build bunkers. The position of the artillery will be taken care of as a priority.

Li Yan nervously observed with a telescope. Fortunately, the gunners of the Qing army filled the barrel with a spoon of medicine, which was slower. Otherwise, like them, they would have used the pre-wrapped projectile packs, and I am afraid that the second round of shells would have begun to be fired at this time, and the casualties of his troops would be even greater.

"The four-and-a-half-inch cannon immediately opened fire and destroyed the artillery of the Qing army as soon as possible." Li Yan commanded again.

When they got Li Yan's order, the artillerymen had already placed the artillery and began to quickly load and aim. They took advantage of the fact that the Qing army's artillery was not ready for the second fire, and wanted to fire it first, so that the Qing army's gunners could not calmly operate the artillery.

In the shelling just now, a three-inch gun was hit, the entire gun carriage was scattered, and the three gunners next to him were also wounded. At this time, the remaining artillery was waiting in place for the spare artillery carriages behind to come up.

"Boom", "boom". Almost at the same time as the Qing army's artillery was fired, the four-and-a-half-inch artillery on Li Yan's side also began to fire. At this distance, the three-inch cannon was more difficult, and the four-inch cannon was in the other two army formations, so only the four-and-a-half-inch cannon could be used to hit the main force.

Under the command of the captain, two or three artillery guns are more efficient at dealing with one target, although the distance is relatively long, than one artillery against one target.

In this round of artillery attacks, the losses on Li Yan's side were not as big as the first time. Because most of the Qing artillery did not adjust its direction, most of the shells hit those bunkers and lost kinetic energy, and only a few shells hit new positions, causing some casualties to his troops.

And the Qing army also suffered casualties there. One artillery carriage was destroyed, and more than a dozen gunners and thirty or forty infantry behind were affected. The screams and death made the Qing army suddenly nervous. In the past, they were the only ones who beat others, when were they beaten by others?

What's more, they only fired two rounds of artillery, and the enemy counterattacked, and the speed was a little too fast. Moreover, a gun carriage was damaged, and the wounded personnel were concentrated in front of and behind the two gun emplacements, and they knew that Li Yan's artillery was by no means indiscriminate.

So Kong Youde immediately let the giant shield go out, guarded in front of the gun emplacement, and first protected the gunner. When the cannon was fired, he let the giant shield get out of the way, although it was troublesome, but he could only do so. At the same time, let the artillery adjust the direction and not hit a certain place fixedly.

"Boom", "boom", and a few more cannon shots came from a distance, and the two giant shields on the side of the Qing army were shattered in one fell swoop. The soldiers in the back, and the artillery in the back, were either hit by shells or wounded by broken sawdust, screaming and screaming. And the charge hand on the Qing army's side is still charging the barrel.

"Brother Ruitu," Geng Zhongming whispered beside Kong Youde, "It seems that this Li Yan is indeed difficult to deal with." What should we do? ”

Kong Youde said helplessly: "What else can I do." Daming wants to kill us, but the Qing Dynasty has given us a lord, and we can only be loyal to the Qing Dynasty. ”

"You're not really going to die here, are you?" Geng Zhongming asked a little nervously.

Before Kong Youde could reply, there was another rumbling cannon shot. This time, it was Li Yan's artillery that fired first, and then Kong Youde's artillery fired next. However, most of Li Yan's front line had bunkers, and only six or seven of his subordinates were killed or wounded. And here in Kong Youde, two giant shields were shattered, and another artillery carriage was destroyed.

Kong Youde frowned, and there was no bottom in his heart. Li Yan fired two cannons, and he could only fire them once here. And in just three shellings, two cannons were ineffective, and if this continued, sooner or later his twelve red-coated cannons would have to be dumbfired.

"Prince Yu, they have only been gone for less than half an hour, and they will have to hold on for a while before they can make a difference." Kong Youde said in a low voice: "Li Yan's artillery is more powerful than ours, I'm afraid our artillery is not easy to take away." ”

At this time, a soldier came to Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's horse with a projectile.

Kong Youde took the cannonball with both hands and sighed: "It's much bigger than our Shenwei General Cannon, no wonder it has such power." ”

"How long will it last?" Geng Zhongming asked, "Not only your artillery, but also my troops have suffered a lot of casualties." ”

Kong Youde said in a low voice: "It depends on the situation." ”

The two no longer discussed. Geng Zhongming let his infantry retreat again, so as not to suffer from the disaster of pond fish all the time. And Kong Youde also asked some experienced gunners to withdraw, and he wanted to leave some seeds for his artillery battalion.

The two sides continued to fire at the rumbling artillery, and the casualties on Li Yan's side became smaller and smaller, while Kong Youde's artillery was still being destroyed.

Two quarters of an hour later, four of Kong Youde's guns had already been hit. At this time, he found out that Li Yan's cannon could only be fired once if it was fired three times, or even four times. Moreover, his huge shield had been completely shattered, and his artillery was directly exposed to Li Yan's artillery fire.

He was hesitant to retreat now. But he didn't dare to leave like this, after all, there were still 2,000 Eight Banner cavalry here, and 200 tooth-swinging soldiers.

While he hesitated, another cannon was hit and fell to the ground. Kong Youde immediately decided that he could not insist any longer. If he persists, not only will his artillery not be able to survive, but most of his gunners will be killed and wounded.

"Lord Subai," Kong Youde came to Su Bai and arched his hand: "Li Yan's artillery is sharp, five cannons have been destroyed, and hundreds of soldiers have been killed and wounded. Prince Yu and they have been walking for nearly an hour, do you think it is time for us to retreat? ”

Su Bai hugged his fists and said: "The two princes are fully responsible for this, and the last general will act according to orders." ”

Kong Youde glanced at Geng Zhongming next to him, but Geng Zhongming also clenched his fists and said, "I listen to the king." ”

Kong Youde was helpless, knowing that this responsibility could only be resisted by him. So he ordered: "The Wuzhen Chaoha battalion and the infantry will withdraw first, and the cavalry will be cut off." ”

The cavalry he is talking about here does not include, of course, the 2,000 Manchurian cavalry. Although Su Bai said that he would act according to orders, he did not dare to let the Manchurian master cut off his queen.

When the artillerymen were preparing to retreat, he and Geng Zhongming, escorted by the Manchurian cavalry, withdrew to the east first. The infantry followed, leaving 3,000 Han cavalry unmoved.

...